VATICAN CITY - The Catholic world can breathe a sigh of relief: the pope’s final pathology results are in, and he needs no further treatment. The day he resumed his public audiences ended with the news everyone had been waiting for: Leo XIV will require neither chemotherapy nor radiation therapy.

“Yesterday, in St. Peter’s Square, the pope spent a long time with the faithful after completing his tour in the popemobile,” said Filippo Di Giacomo, a canon lawyer.

“On the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica, he spent nearly an hour with newlywed couples and Polish pilgrims accompanied by their cardinals. His ease in engaging with visiting groups is a clear sign that Leo is approaching his commitments with the same energy as before,” he added.

Molecular tests on tissue removed during surgery confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma and established that the disease was localized. A subsequent oncological assessment determined that no further treatment was necessary.

“Within a week, concerns about the pope’s recovery were put to rest through effective, straightforward communication that everyone could understand, unlike what happened in the past,” Di Giacomo said.

Smiling and visibly relaxed, the pope returned to the crowds on Wednesday, just eight days after lung surgery. He followed his usual routine at the weekly general audience, taking a ride through St. Peter’s Square in the popemobile despite Rome’s bad weather. The only precaution was a transparent canopy over the white vehicle to protect him from the rain.

He exchanged greetings and jokes with the faithful and blessed children, in a warm reception that signaled a return to normal.

The only reference to his recent health scare came in his opening remarks to the 30,000 people gathered in the square: “Thank you for the support of your prayers. Thanks be to God for his generosity.”

Before the general audience, Robert Francis Prevost had met with participants in a conference on the new saints in the Clementine Hall, further signaling that his regular schedule was back on track.

In St. Peter’s Square, the pope showed no signs of holding back. He led the singing of the Lord’s Prayer and, as usual, greeted individually those admitted to kiss his ring.

The confirmation that no further treatment is needed reinforces the optimism that had emerged toward the end of his hospital stay. He was discharged earlier than expected and went on to deliver the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.

A much-anticipated trip to South America in November now appears more likely as well. The pope is expected to visit Uruguay, Argentina and, above all, Peru, where he spent 20 years as a missionary and Augustinian bishop.

His catechesis was as focused and forceful as ever. “Life, once conceived, must be protected with the utmost care,” he said, warning against what he described as abortion as “infanticide.”

The pope then returned to the themes of marriage, procreation and family life, stressing that there can be no “real contradiction between the divine laws governing the transmission of life and those that foster authentic conjugal love.”

Reconciling marital love with the transmission of life, Leo XIV said, requires preserving “within a context of true love, the full meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation.”

Moreover, “the specific acts of married life, when ordered according to true human dignity, must be held in great esteem.”

The pope called for greater recognition of the family’s social role, describing it as the “richest school of humanity” and the “foundation of society.” He urged those with social responsibilities, particularly in politics and culture, to “work effectively to promote marriage and the family.”

Prevost invoked the protection of the Holy Family of Nazareth, asking that it “guide us on our journey and protect families throughout the world.”

In a significant return to the themes he had been addressing before his hospitalization, Leo emphasized the family’s central role in society. “Families give birth to the future of peoples and serve as a sign of peace and universal unity. The family is the cell of society. If it is healthy, the whole organism flourishes; if it is sick, the entire community withers and dies.”

In his teaching, marriage “is not an ideal, but the standard of true love between a man and a woman: total, faithful and fruitful love.”

With his health scare behind him, the pope has returned to his central themes, placing marriage and the family at the heart of his vision for the future.

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